Slayers
by Mars Yggdrasil
Summary: After an encounter with a vampire, Daniel makes a trip to LA to regain part of his life he'd sooner forget. Please R&R.
1. Prologue

This is the sequel to Angels or Demons, though absolutly can be read on it's own.:)

**Slayers **

Cassandra's feet pounded on the dark concrete as she ran at top speed down the quiet suburban street that she lived on. Her breath came in short, labored gasps as she turned briefly to look at her pursuer. The lanky figure in a black robe was still close on her heels, the vicious looking knife in it's hand glinting from the orange streetlight.

Cassie Fraiser reached her house and careened into the driveway. Without any time to unlock the front door she sped around to the back, bursting through the kitchen and upstairs. Even though she wasn't supposed to, Cassandra knew her mother kept a small pistol in her desk drawer. Maybe that thing following her would listen to reason with a gun pointed at its head.

The younger Fraiser spun around and tried to hold steady as the robed figure burst into the study.

"Don't move or I'll shoot!" yelled Cassie. The thing paused only for a second before lunging at her. Cassandra pulled the trigger but all she got was a click. Oh god, she should have known her mother wouldn't keep the gun loaded!

Cassie ducked the attack, and the knife swooshed past her head and down her arm. Crying out in pain she dropped the pistol to cover the wound, wet with blood. The robed figure lunged again, and Cassie tripped against the wall, trapped. Oh dear lord this was it!

Suddenly a figure in a white sweater appeared in between Cassandra and her assailant. The robe halted and reared back, hissing slightly. Cassie looked up to try and identify the face of her savior.

Daniel?

"Wha-" Cassandra muttered, standing up. Daniel was supposed to be off in a higher plane, or something. What would he be doing here? Dr. Jackson was glaring through her pursuer's hood, right where the eyes would be, if one could see them.

"Stay away from her," he growled. The robe cocked it's head as if asking a silent question. It seemed to come to a decision and chuckled darkly.

"You are not my master," it hissed. It lunged at Daniel. Rather being non corporeal as the robe had expected, Daniel's hand shot out and grabbed the being around the throat.

"I told you to stay away," he grunted. White power began to flow from Daniel's hand and into the creature. It began to writhe and hiss, letting out a finalizing scream of pain before going limp. Dr. Jackson threw the creature to the floor in disgust. Cassandra, speechless, leaned against the wall, hand still clutching her wound.

"Than - thank you," she finally managed to stutter. Daniel glanced at her arm.

"You might want to get that looked at," he said, turning to leave.

"Wait!" Cassie called. Daniel paused, "You won't get into trouble on my account, will you?" Daniel turned to the black robed figure slumped on the floor.

"No," he told her, "those things don't count," and he was gone.


	2. Questions Raised

**Questions Raised **

ABOUT A YEAR LATER

It had been a hard day at the SGC. Which unfortunately for Daniel Jackson, recently descended from a higher plane with amnesia to boot, had brought back a flood of memories about every other bad day he'd ever had. Now all the man wanted was to sit and relax in his favorite coffee shop and let everything wash away with a steaming cup.

Unfortunately he couldn't remember where on God's green Earth his favorite coffee shop was.

Now Daniel was standing lost on a street corner, the evening chill of autumn beginning to bite through his sweater, turning the archeologist's day from bad to worse. He finally gave up, and turned around for the long walk home, promptly bumping into a familiar teenage girl.

"Oh! Daniel!" she cried, "I didn't see you there!"

Daniel grinned in recognition, "Cassandra, right?" he asked, "You're Dr. Fraiser's daughter."

The tallish brunette grinned, "Yep, that's right. Mum told me about the whole amnesia thing."

"Yeah," laughed Daniel, "the whole amnesia thing..."

"So," said Cassandra cheerily, "what brings you to this part of town?"

"Um, do you know where Morris' is?" Cassandra frowned.

"Morris? You mean the coffee shop? It's late, they're closed."

"Oh," Daniel was disappointed, "by the way, what're you doing out at this time?" Cassandra looked away.

"I'm out a lot lately," she said simply. She glanced back to note his reaction, and saw Daniel's forlorn expression, "Look, you need cheering up. I'm heading home for dinner, why don't you join me and Mum?"

Dinner at Janet's! Daniel blushed.

"Um, I wouldn't want to be nuisance-"

"Oh, come on," Cassie insisted, grabbing the man by the arm and dragging him down the street. Man, that girl was stronger than she looked.

When they reached the Fraiser household, Cassie burst into the kitchen and shouted, "Mom! I brought home a friend!" Janet Fraiser bustled in from the dining room.

"Cassandra, I told you to tell me if you were going to invite people over - oh, Daniel, it's you." Dr Jackson blushed furiously at Janet's reaction to his presence, "Um, okay," the doctor continued, "Cassie, set a place for Daniel too, please." Cassie grinned widely at Daniel and made her way to the cupboards.

"Sorry about that," apologized Dr. Fraiser. Her sleeves were rolled up, and her arms covered in flour, "Cassie friends are great, really, but they're still teenagers," she shrugged, "so, you know..."

"Hm, kind of. Do you need help?" Daniel asked, indicating Janet's arms.

"Oh, that," Janet blushed, "um, okay, yeah, you can help."

Dinner was nice enough. Over the course of the evening Daniel got to know the Fraisers all over again, and even learned a few things he hadn't known before. They were all sitting around in the living room, laughing over Cassie's birthday photos when the doorbell rang. Janet got up to answer it, and came back to the room followed by a very pale looking youth.

"Do you know this boy Cassie?" she asked, "Says you're doing a project together. Very polite, asking if he was invited in..." Cassandra's eyes widened.

"And you just let him?" she squeeked.

"Sure, why no-" Janet had turned to face the boy. A second ago he'd looked normal, but now his face had changed, contorted, his brow furrowed, eyes an angry yellow, mouth open in an angry sneer to reveal sharp, pointed fangs. Daniel's eyes widened and something clicked in his mind.

Vampire.

"Slayer," the vampire growled. He grabbed Janet's arm and threw her out of the way. At the same time Cassie launched herself at the boy, but was caught off guard and thrown onto the wooden coffee table, which splintered under the impact. The teenage girl growled, grabbing a piece of the table and jumping back to the fight. Daniel didn't notice a thing that was going on. He was remembering something, a similar fight in a London graveyard, a small redhead fighting for her life, gaining the upper hand...

Right hook to the jaw, back comes the elbow, _"Now you've got him Annie!" _As the vampire was stunned the girl moved in with her weapon. Cassandra drove her splinter of table through the heart of the vampire, and it exploded in a cloud of dust.

There was a stunned silence.

"What -" squeeked Janet, "what the hell was that!" She was crouched against the wall with her hair out of place and covered in dust from the coffee table. Cassie crouched down to face her mother.

"Shh, Mum, calm down, it was just a vampire."

"Just a vampire! Vampires aren't real! That's crazy! And you! Cassie, what the hell happened to you?" Janet was almost hysterical now, "That guy threw me across the room and you beat him up like he was half your size or something! And -"

"Mum, please!" cried Cassie. Her tone startled Janet into silence. "I'm sorry you had to see that, all right? I don't know what's happened to me. I had a few funny dreams, Daniel saved my ass from a demon -"

"You did?" asked Janet, turning to Daniel. He didn't acknowledge.

"He was ascended," explained Cassandra, "he doesn't remember. Anyway, now I'm just ... different. Stronger, faster, it's nothing bad really. I just get chased by those freaks three nights a week." Cassie jerked her thumb at the place where the vampire had been standing that was now inhabited by a small pile of dust. Janet, who had now calmed down considerably, reached up and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"You should have told me," she mumbled, "Niirti's experiments could have come back, we could have had this sorted out sooner," she stood up, "Come on, we should get to the base, find out what's happening and get you fixed up."

"Um..."

"You can't," said Daniel, still in his position on the couch. "Cassandra has the power now. She's stuck with it until she dies."

"'The Power'," asked Janet cautiously, "what power?"

"The power of the Slayer."

"Slayer?"

"Vampire Slayer. You know, she who is born to hunt the vampire, stop the spread of evil, that kind of thing."

"No, I don't know. Cassie do you know? Daniel, what the heck is that all supposed to mean?" The archeologist shrugged.

"I have no idea."

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Cassandra, Daniel and Dr. Fraiser were all in Daniel's car on the way to his apartment, hoping to find something there that would clarify Daniel's unexpected explanation.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you any more," Daniel was sitting at the wheel and saying, "but watching Cassandra fight helped me remember that one little thing about Slayers. There's more - tons more, I know it - but it's all just beyond reach, y'know?"

"Never had amnesia," said Cassie, "couldn't tell you."

They pulled into the parking lot of Daniel's apartment block and made their way upstairs. Once inside Daniel's place Janet asked what exactly they were looking for. Daniel scrunched up his face remembering the flashback he'd had during the fight.

"Red hair," he mumbled, "short of stature. Late teens. Eighteen, nineteen, maybe even twenty. College age." His eyes snapped open. "Not college, university. Look for stuff from university."

He and Janet both grabbed a journal, whilst Cassandra slid a photo album from the top shelf. They skimmed them hastily for a few minutes until Cassie gave a triumphant cry.

"Is this her?" she asked, turning the photo album so Daniel could see it properly. The picture she was indicating was of three people, all around nineteen years old. An unfamiliar boy with wire rimmed glasses and big smile, and a short, red haired girl wrapped in the arms of an unmistakable, long haired Daniel.

"Yeah, that's her," he said, "but I can't quite place the other guy."

"Does it say anything on the back?" asked Janet, pulling the photo from its plastic sleeve. "Danny, Annie and Wes," she read aloud. "So her name's Annie. Do you still keep in touch?"

"Ug," said Daniel, "I don't think - where's my address book?"

"Good idea," said Cassie, scanning the shelves. She ran her finger along the spines pulling out a slim notebook from the far right hand side and handing it to Daniel.

"There's no Ann or Annie in here," he told them, flipping through it, "but there is a Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. That other guy, I would assume."

"Well where is he now?" Daniel glanced at the address.

"Los Angeles."

"Got a phone number?"

"Uh huh," said Daniel, moving to the kitchen, picking up the receiver off the wall and dialing the number from the book. He was on there for a long time, with a lot of sighing and waiting and, "I'm an old friend, can't you just put me through? Please? Fine, fine." He pulled the phone away from his mouth," Janet, when do you next have time off?" Janet shrugged.

"This upcoming weekend, why?"

"How do you feel about going to Los Angeles?" Cassie's face lit up.

"Yeah Mum, can we go to L.A.?"

"Will it help?" asked Janet. Now it was Daniel's turn to shrug.

"I sure hope so." He turned back to the receiver, "Okay, next Saturday. Thank you." Daniel hung up, exasperated.

"When I asked for him at the first number I was given a forwarding address to the L.A. Wolfram and Hart bureaucracy and had to book an appointment for next Saturday."

"Guess we're going to L.A.," sighed Janet.

"Yeeessss!"


	3. Highschool Encounters

AN: Despite what Cassie says in this chapter IT"S NOT SLASH!

**Highschool Encounters**

Next Saturday afternoon a taxi pulled up in front of the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram and Hart, Attorneys at Law. Three figures spilled out and stared at the steel and glass colossus in silence before heading in. Daniel and the two Fraisers strode across the lobby of a rather mundane looking office and into the spacious elevator. They stood in silence as it ascended, music being pumped softly from a speaker above their heads. Finally the elevator halted, opening its doors with a pleasant ding. The three occupants were faced with more or less what they expected - a bustling office, men and women with suits and briefcases, phones ringing, mail carts veering past each other in tight spaces. Except the man chatting rapidly on his cell phone appeared to be green with red horns, and the pale as death client had a magnificent set of bat's wings unfurling from his shoulders. Needless to say, they were shocked.

"Aliens?" suggested Janet after a while. Cassandra shook her head.

"Demons, maybe. Like the vampire."

"They look nothing like that 'vampire'."

"I think the big question," interrupted Daniel, "is what are they doing here?"

"Well, that's what we're here to find out," sighed Cassie. She strode confidently out of the elevator and over to the secretary across the lobby. Her presence failed to turn any heads. Here, apparently, demon and human mingled without second thought. Daniel and Janet trailed behind warily.

"Can you tell us where to find a Wesley Wyndham-Pryce?" Cassie was asking.

"Of course!" the young blonde smiled cheerily. "I'm Harmony, by the way. Follow me." Harmony rose onto stiletto heels and led them down a hallway, stopping after a few doors and knocking politely.

"Mr. Wyndham-Pryce, your three o'clock appointment is here."

"I have a three o'clock?" mumbled an English accented voice from inside the office. Then, louder, "Come in!"

Harmony opened the door that led into a spacious, well lit office. A young man in his early thirties with a thin face and short brown hair sat behind a desk littered with papers and old leather volumes. Wesley adjusted his wire rimmed glasses to get a better look as his visitors. Then his eyes widened.

"Daniel?" he said quietly. Then Wesley broke into a huge grin. "Daniel!" he cried again, launching himself across the office and briefly wrapping his arms around the archeologist. "Where've you been?" Wesley asked, "Why're you here? Major Carter said you were dead. Was it a joke? And why did you make a formal appointment? You could've just told them you were an old friend."

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"So," said Wesley after Harmony had left and introductions made, "you've had amnesia? How did that come about?" The ex-watcher noted the glance that passed between Daniel and Miss Fraiser.

"Um," Daniel ducked his head, "it's ... classified."

"If it helps any, you told me about the SGC and the Stargate Programme years ago."

"What?" Daniel laughed, "I don't think I'd do that."

"Well you did. I can run through the basics to prove it if you'd like." Wesley was slightly worried. Daniel didn't seem to be entirely the same person he'd known, and he could get into a lot of trouble over the information he'd been given. "Think about it," he urged, "five years ago, you came to the high school in Sunnydale..."

_Five teenagers sitting around a long wooden table lifted their heads as Daniel Jackson strode through the double doors of the Sunnydale High library. It was a well lit and spacious room, though mostly, the archeologist noted, due to lack of shelving._

"_Mr. Jackson," the librarian smiled and held out his hand in recognition, "it's good to see you again."_

"_Likewise, Glies. Is Wesley about? I heard he was -"_

"_Here!" exclaimed a happy voice from the librarian's office. Wesley bounded forward in greeting. "But the real question is you, my old comrade. What brings you to Sunnydale?" Daniel shrugged._

"_I heard you where in the States, I've got the weekend off, and I thought we could have lunch. Jeeze, Wes. These past two years have been amazing, I've got so much to tell you..."_

"Oh, yeah, I remember now," muttered Daniel. "But - why you? Why would I trust you with something I could get thrown in jail for?"

"We've been friends for a long time. And, we - went through a lot. More than most people do, and some people should never have to."

"Oh really," said Daniel, leaning back and folding his arms. He was really beginning to doubt trusting this man, "Like what?"

"You really don't remember anything, do you?" asked Wesley.

"Nope."

"I guess we're going to have to start at the beginning, then. First I have to know -"

"Whoa!" cried Cassandra, interrupting. "Before we hear the story of your little love

affair, we did come here about a different problem, remember? One that may take a few less centuries to solve." Wesley leaned back, amused.

"Go ahead, then." Cassandra proceeded to brief him on their encounter with the vampire and Daniel's jump-started memory.

"So," she said in conclusion, "what's a Slayer?"

"A girl imbued with the powers necessary to battle vampires, demons and other various forces of evil. Usually there's only one, but last summer a spell was performed to ensure anyone who could receive the power, got it. You seem to have got it."

"Anything else? I mean, how long have Slayers been around? How many have there been? What were they like? And what, technically, is a demon?" Wesley sighed. He didn't have time to answer all the young woman's questions. He wanted to talk to Daniel, find out what had happened to his friend, and how to get his memory back.

If, indeed, getting it back was even a remotely good idea.

"For once I'm going to have to thank Rutherford, that traitor," grumbled Wesley reaching out and pulling a large red book from the bottom of a large pile that very nearly fell over. "Watcher's Diaries, William Mansfield," he whispered to it. Than he handed the volume to Cassandra. She looked slightly taken aback.

"William Mansfield was a member of the Watcher's Council, as was I at one point. They're a group dedicated to tracking down and training the Slayers. They were blown up last fall. Big loss." He didn't sound too sorry.

"Did you just talk to the book?" asked Cassandra.

"Yes, I suppose I did."

"Why? I mean, it sounded like you told it what book to be. For all I know, you could have written the whole thing."

"No," Wesley shook his head, "I tell it the name of the book I want, and the text is pulled from an archive upstairs." Cassie tentatively opened the "book" to the first page, where words swam into existence before her eyes.

"Wow," mumbled Dr. Fraiser. "What kind of technology is this? Sam'd love to see it." Wesley grinned.

"Not technology," he told them, "magic. And magic, I suppose, is where our story starts."

_Mrs. Carter was sixteen year old Daniel Jackson's favorite teacher. She taught English at the Catholic high school in Sunnydale, California, that his foster parents had sent him to. Not that Daniel Jackson was complaining. The stories circulating about public Sunnydale High made it sound less than appealing._

_Daniel liked Carter because she was ... different than his other teachers. Intelligent and assertive, she often talked in riddles and never dismissed an opinion, no matter how ludicrous it may sound. There was this look in her eye that almost seemed to suggest she knew something no-one else did, something important. Something you were more than welcome to know, but you had to find out yourself._

_And then there was The Book. And old thing, bound in leather, sitting beside A Midsummer Night's Dream on the end of class shelf. Mrs. Carter never took it down for lessons, and it didn't even have a title that Daniel could see. Yet he had seen his teacher reading it, and longed to see what was concealed on its pages._

_Despite all this, Daniel being a shy boy, had never struck up the nerve to talk to Mrs. Carter alone. He was heartbroken when she died in a car accident late in the year. A tearful son had arrived one day to collect all his mother's personal belongings. In a way, said the principal, Mrs. Carter had now completely left their school. But he was wrong. _

_The Book had remained. _

_It sat on the shelf for months, no-one coming to claim it. Finally, one day, Daniel stayed behind after class. He looked around nervously, and cocked his ears to make sure no-one was coming down the hallway. Then he reached out a shaking hand and slid the book off the shelf. He wondered why nobody had noticed it, noticed there was one more item to be returned. _

_But who to return it to? Mrs. Carter's family had left town a while ago, her husband's job leading them to Washington. What was his name? How was Daniel supposed to track them down? Frustrated, he plopped down in a desk, and in a moment of complete and utter exasperation, opened the book in his hands. Reading always helped him think. And as Daniel's eyes flicked over the first page, the secret had been revealed._


	4. Then and Forever

**Then and Forever **

Twenty odd years later, thirty-three year old Daniel Jackson opened his eyes to the study of his old friend Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, in the offices of Wolfram and Hart, Attorneys at Law.

"Whoa," he whispered.

"So?" asked Wesley.

"I learned about magic from a book one of my high school teachers left behind. At first I didn't believe it, but after trying a few of the spells..." Daniel trailed off. Wesley smiled and nodded.

"From the day we first met, I could tell you had a head for magic."

"So," said Daniel, leaning back, "what happened after that? Exactly how did we first meet?"

"You went to university in England, remember? You managed to bag an after school job using your super human linguistic abilities translating texts for the Watcher's Council that no-one else wanted to do."

_The classifieds had said there was a job opening for a linguist. Daniel Jackson wasn't technically a linguist - yet - but he still spoke a hell of a lot more languages than most people. And besides, he needed the money._

_Quentin Travers, who had put out the advertisement, hadn't exactly hired him on the spot however. It seemed to be because he didn't trust anyone who didn't know what some quack organization called 'The Watchers Council' was. Which Daniel thought was ludicrous. But after some convincing and a sample of Jackson's Latin they came to an agreement on one term - Don't ask questions. Daniel didn't mind. He really did need that money._

_One afternoon a few weeks later Daniel was following the smell of coffee. He'd been working for a while with a bunch of stuffy Englishmen who only ever it seemed drank tea, and their appetite for the stuff was beginning to unnerve Daniel. The work itself wasn't bad though, and there was no trouble on questions because Daniel simply didn't have any. He translated what he was told to, and forcibly (whether for fear of his job or the answer) convinced himself he didn't want to know more._

_The coffee smell lead Daniel down a hall and into an old classroom. Sitting at a long wooden table was a boy around his own age and a middle aged man holding a large book. The smell was being given off not by a coffee pot as Daniel had hoped, but by a herb burning slowly in the center of a spell laid out in the center of the table. A spell, he could see, that was about to go horribly wrong._

"_What the-!" cried Daniel just as the pentagram burst into flame. His hand shot out, palm facing toward the growing flame and shouted, "Alica subsisto!" The flames disappeared, leaving only a whisp of smoke. The older man stood up, closing his book with a frightening snap. The younger man shrunk in his seat._

"_Aren't you the translator Mr. Travers hired?" he asked with a brusque English accent. Daniel swallowed._

"_Yes sir." _

"_I can see he didn't hire you for nothing."_

"_No sir." The man smiled and held out his hand. Daniel took it._

"_I'm Roger Wyndham-Pryce. This is my son, Wesley. He's studying basic magics as part of his curriculum at the Watcher's Academy. Though rather unsuccessfully I might add." Wesley blushed. Roger continued, "But you, young man, already seem to know what you're doing. You must have had an excellent teacher." Now it was Daniel's turn to blush._

"_I taught myself, actually," he mumbled. Roger seemed to consider this._

"_You wouldn't consider tutoring Wesley, would you? He may understand better, coming from someone his own age." _

"_All right," agreed Daniel," but..." he paused for a moment, biting his lip before blurting out, "If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce, what exactly is the Watcher's Council?"_

"I can't exactly say the lessons went well," said Wesley, "not when you cause that many explosions. But we got along well, and I began hanging out with you and Annie."

"Annie?"

"Yes," Wesley breathed, "Annie Kavanaugh was..." he really didn't want to tell Daniel this part. He'd ask questions, digging deeper and deeper, he'd want to know everything. He'd find out what happened to her, and he'd go through it all again. All the anger, all the pain...

"Annie Kavanaugh was what?" asked Janet.

"She was Daniel's girlfriend. And the Slayer," he added against his better judgment.

Cassie looked up from the book she'd been handed.

"I thought the Slayer was like, my age or something. She can't be if she's Danny's"

"Keep reading," Wesley told her, "this was over ten years ago."

"So, how much do you know about Annie?" Daniel asked

"A lot. We were quite good friends. Let's see ... for starters I was told you met at school."

_Daniel nudged the girl sitting beside him in second year English. The redhead turned from chatting with her neighbour._

"_Hm?" she asked._

"_Who's she?" Daniel asked, indicating a petite, black haired girl sitting near the front of the class._

"_Oh, Sherrie Wyse. Why?"_

"_Nothing in particular," said Daniel turning back to the front of the class. The girl leaned over to study the glazed expression on her neighbour's face and smiled._

"_She's got a boyfriend."_

_Daniel's face fell._

"_Annie, by the way. Kavanaugh." Daniel looked up to see Annie was offering her hand, but was too bummed to take it. Annie reached over, grabbed Daniel's hand, placed it in her own and shook. Hard._

"_Nice to meet you to, Annie," she said, happy and sarcastic. Daniel smiled slightly and finished the handshake on his own accord._

"_Nice to meet you too."_

_The next day Annie managed to secure a seat with her friend two rows back, so it was a while before they talked again. Annie found Daniel hiding behind one of the shelves in the old, high ceilinged library. He was flushed and breathing heavily._

"_I didn't know you enjoyed particle wave studies too," Annie said, plucking a book off the shelf._

"_What?" panted Daniel. She held up a book in her hand on the aforementioned subject, indicating that was the section he was hiding behind._

"_What?" said Daniel again, "What? No. I - I just need time - time to - gaaah." He buried his face in his hands._

"_What happened?" asked Annie._

"_I asked her out," Daniel mumbled._

"_Who? Sherrie?" _

_He nodded._

"_And?" _

_He shook his head._

"_Told you she had a boyfriend."_

"_Yeah," sighed Daniel, pulling his hands away from his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of crumpled pieces of paper, "and I bought two club tickets, too." He stared at the tickets ruefully for a few moments before turning to Annie._

"_You wanna come?"_

"_Not as a last resort," Annie huffed. She gathered her books to her chest and began to stalk away._

"_Wait!" Daniel called after her, "I didn't mean it like that! It's just it'd be a waste of money, and I don't want that, and I thought you'd like to come, it doesn't have to be a date or anything..." As he trailed off Annie stopped walking. There was a brief silence before she exploded into a fit of giggles._

"_You're so cute when you're gullible," Annie smirked. "Which fortunately for you," she swayed up to Daniel, "is all the time." She plucked one of the tickets from his hand and turned away again. "Meet you here at seven -thirty!" she called back over her shoulder._

_To Daniel's good fortune he was too stunned to speak._

_Two weeks and four outings they'd silently agreed not to call 'dates' later, Daniel and Annie walked along the darkened London streets. The late hour and October chill had driven most people indoors, but they were having too much fun to care. Annie couldn't get her mind off the movie they'd just watched, rambling on and on about who said what, laughing hysterically then taking a sip of her soda. As the pair passed a dark alley she suddenly stiffened, her head whipping around to peer into the darkness._

"_What is it?" Daniel asked, following her gaze._

_Annie shook her head._

"_Should be nothing," she mumbled._

_Just beyond their line of sight, something growled happily and shrunk further into the shadows._

"_So," Annie was saying, "did you catch that thing where the french guy asks the American-" she was interrupted by the sound of running feet behind them. Annie turned to see who was causing the noise, and screamed as a creature that looked like a man hurled itself off the pavement towards her in an attempt to grab her from behind. For a brief moment Daniel caught a glimpse of yellow eyes and pointed teeth before Annie and her attacker tumbled to the ground. The girl began to fight, hard, but she was caught unawares, pinned, and losing. He had to do something._

_Daniel extended his hand, concentrating wholly on Annie's attacker. He narrowed his eyes, and raised his hand slowly. The assailant gave a yelp of surprise as it was lifted off the ground. Annie was shocked too, but for her there was no time to hesitate. In the blink of an eye she reached down in to her boot and pulled out a slim wooden stake, sharpened to a deadly point at one end. With a cry she drove the weapon into the heart of her attacker, and the vampire disintegrated into a cloud of dust. Daniel dropped his hand with a sigh of relief, as Annie pulled herself to her feet, panting._

"_Wow," she huffed, "we make a good team, don't we?"_

"_Uh huh," agreed Daniel. He yawned and stretched his arms high above his head, "Better get back soon, before another one of those things shows up. At least it's not like Sunnydale, that place was literally infest-"_

"_Daniel?"_

"_Hm?' Daniel dropped his arms and looked up to see Annie standing awfully close. She placed her hands on his shoulders and pulled herself up, almost on tiptoe._

"_Thank you," she whispered softly, pressing her lips lightly against Daniel's own. There was a pause as they gazed into each-other's eyes. Then Daniel pulled Annie closer and whispered something back._

"_Always."_


	5. Why We Fight

**Why We Fight **

Daniel smiled silently at the memories of the time he'd spent with Annie.

"I take it you remember then?" asked Wesley, noting the expression and smiling wryly.

"Mm hm," replied Daniel, still lost in his own memory. Wesley leaned toward Janet, resting his head on his fist. He was still looking at Daniel.

"Him and Annie were so close," he told the doctor softly. "What we did, nothing else can bind people like that."

"What did you do?" asked Janet

"Same thing I do now - or am trying to do anyway. Fighting monsters, thwarting evil, helping the helpless, that kind of thing." Wesley smiled ruefully, "There's so much out there that most people are completely unaware of; the battle between good and evil, and we were right in the thick of it."

"He still is," whispered Janet.

"I know," replied Wesley. "I'm proud of Daniel for doing that, after what happened."

Daniel chose this moment to snap back to reality.

"After what happened?" he asked. Wesley sighed.

Here it comes, he thought.

You could always lie, another part of his consciousness told him, Daniel'd never know if you did.

But no. Daniel needed to know this, even if it did hurt. He already remembered Sha're's death, and his parents'. Wesley hated to deal another blow to his old friend. But it was so much a part of who he was. The ex-watcher drew in his breath and sat back in his chair.

"We ... made enemies," he told them, trying to start carefully. "One night there was an incident in which they managed to capture Annie."

_Daniel Jackson ran through the waves of rain that fell from thick clouds obscuring the late night sky above London. Artificial light filled the sleepy, soaking city. Every once and a while a car would hiss by on the relatively quiet residential road he was on, temporarily drowning out the sounds of heavier traffic a few streets away. His heart pounded, and his breath came in painfully through allergy harassed lungs. Daniel's foot splashed through a deep puddle, the water flying up to soak his jeans. He didn't notice. He was drenched to the bone anyway. There was only one thought on his mind: Run. For Annie's sake, run._

_Daniel sped up the steps of a red brick town house. It was one in a row of many, but he knew it well. He leaned against the door in order to catch just enough breath to start pounding and shout, "Wesley! Wesley are you awake? The Trust got Annie, do you hear me? They've bloody - got - Annie!" Daniel collapsed against Wesley's front door, resting his forehead against the cool, wet glass. A noise part way between a gasp and a sob escaped him. Why'd he come here anyway? He didn't need Wesley to rescue Annie. Who cares how much he knew about what he was facing? All you need is the power to destroy it. And power was something he had plenty of._

_Daniel turned away from the townhouse and started down the steps. A couple seconds later the door behind him opened, flooding the sidewalk with yellow light. Wesley stood there in red flannel PJ's and a tatty housecoat._

"_The Trust are dangerous, I know, but I'll never forgive myself if I let you go alone."_

_Other then pausing on the steps Daniel didn't acknowledge that he'd been spoken to._

"_Daniel?"_

"_Hurry up or you'll never be forgiving yourself."_

_Less than half an hour later, the rain had stopped. Daniel and Wesley emerged from the underground near the low office buildings that served as headquarters to the Trust. Though the trains did not run at this hour, a city such as London had its ways, if you knew where to look. The two vaulted over the low concrete wall, and paused on the grass beside a wide driveway._

"_That," whispered Wesley, "was almost too ea-" He was cut off in mid sentence by a low growl to their left. A large, black dog had just prowled around the corner. It was almost indistinguishable from the night, save for eyes that glowed with the red lights of hell, and razor teeth glinting in the light from a far off streetlamp._

"_Azazel's Hounds," breathed Wesley, "I didn't think they could exist in this dimension." The hound crept closer, ears flat against its skull, then burst into a furious run. At the same time, Daniel launched himself towards it. "It's never been determined," Wesley shouted franticly after his friend, "if the hounds are undead or fae, but chances are they don't enjoy the light either way!"_

_At this point the hound and Daniel met. There was a crack and a flash, and the dog fell to the ground, dead, without a scratch on it. Daniel kept running, completely uninterested in what his friend had to say. Wesley shook his head and followed._

_They rounded the corner the hound had come around, and continued along to the back of the building. Wesley caught up with Daniel just as the other boy was preparing to break through a maintenance door._

"_Cameras," Wesley panted as he arrived. Daniel grumbled to himself. Surveillance cameras. Knocking them out was time consuming, but necessary. He quickly drew complex symbol in the air in front of him, clapped his hands together, and as he pulled them apart an invisible EM field expanded from the point of contact to knock out any security cameras for several blocks._

_Several seconds later the door blew in._

_Daniel and Wesley raced their way through an underground maze of enchantments that was the basement of the office building. Daniel was running blindly, concerned only with finding Annie. As he reached each obstacle the magic overtook him, acting almost as if by it's own free will. At one point Daniel shot through an electric blue barrier without noticing, whilst Wesley had to pause and kneel down to draw the counter charm on the floor._

_And all the while Wesley was thinking, This is too easy. This is all way too easy. Daniel's magic may be strong, but what we're contending with is nothing compared to what the Trust can dish out. Something's wrong. Something is seriously wrong._

_Finally they arrived in a dimly lit corridor. It looked the same as all the others, with its yellow lights and old metal pipes that leaked rust onto the concrete walls. The hallway, also had, like a few others, doors on either side. But whilst all the other doors had obviously been locked for years, these were in use. And by the look of the guard it could only be one thing: prisoners._

_Since Daniel was moving so quickly, he didn't have time to stop and take stock of the situation. He careened right into the guard, and Wesley watched in horror as the man fell to the magic like a common demon. Daniel barely batted an eye. He moved from door to door, glancing through each grimy window to check the contents of the room beyond. Halfway down the corridor he stopped, and put his hand beside the doorknob. A shower of sparks erupted, melting the lock and whatever spells had guarded the room. The door clicked open, and Daniel shot inside. Annie was sitting in a chair at the back of a room as sparse and grimy as the hall outside. Her head drooped on her chest as if sleeping, matted red hair cascading down to obscure her face._

"_Annie!" Daniel knelt down in front of his girlfriend. "Annie, wake up." He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook gently. Annie didn't respond. _

"_C'mon, we have to get you out of here!" Daniel tilted Annie's head so he could look her in the face. Wide, sightless eyes stared at him from a face the pallid gray of death. A slit in Annie's throat gaped open like an extra mouth._

"_Shit," spat Wesley. Daniel didn't say a word. He shifted forward quietly, drawing Annie's body into his embrace, and burying his face in her neck. After a few seconds Daniel let out a muffled sob, and tears began to slide down his cheeks. At the same moment four guards rushed into the corridor, followed by what was assumed to be the head of the Trust's London branch in a fancy, three piece suit. Two of the guards grabbed Wesley by the arms, as the head man sidled forward to stand in the room facing Daniel._

"_Amazing," the man drawled, "the men thwarting us the most falling for the simplest of traps." _

"_I'll kill you," Daniel growled. The man chuckled, a thin sound suggesting more than a hint of demon blood._

"_Such a human response, to die for one's love," he grinned to reveal several rows of pointed teeth. "In other words, you can try."_

_Back in the gloom of the cell there were two minute flashes, like someone's eyes lighting up and then dying again._

"_I think you misunderstood me," said Daniel standing up. He turned to face the Trust's leader, the man who had ordered Annie's death, "I said, I'll kill you!"_

_This time the flash was much brighter. Blinding, almost. The half demon was thrown backwards into the wall by some invisible force, the impact cracking his skull and breaking his spine. Daniel stepped out of the cell and rounded on the guards. Wesley gasped. His eyes, usually blue and full of life, had turned blacker than the night. Wesley felt the guards around him tense. Two of them lifted their guns. They didn't run. They were paid to shoot, not run. _

_Daniel began to advance. The guards opened fire. Round after round of bullets bounced off a barrier and fell harmlessly to the ground. Without batting an eye the guards discarded their weapons and began whispering words of power. Before they could finish the incantation Daniel flicked his hand and the foursome were engulfed in blue-black fire. Wesley flinched as flames licked against his back, but to him they were harmless._

_Daniel continued down the corridor, past Wesley, rage still burning in his eyes._

"_Daniel, that's enough," the English boy pleaded, "grab the - grab Annie and let's get out of here!" His friend seemed to be ignoring him._

"_Daniel," Wesley tried again, reaching out to grab his friend's arm. Daniel shook him off so violently that Wesley tripped to the floor._

"_Stay out of this," he growled without looking at him._

"_I can't. You've done enough damage already. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment. Don't let the magic control you! Daniel!" Wesley shouted the last word in desperation as his friend let forth an explosion of light that ripped apart the ceiling. By the time the glare had cleared from Wesley's eyes enough for him to see, Daniel had disappeared. He growled to himself angrily. There was no way he could catch up now. Instead he turned around to grab Annie, pausing only for a moment to dispel the disgust he would usually feel at carrying a dead body. Then Wesley made his way back through the underground maze, following the trail of burnt out spells and dead demons. As he neared the exit an explosion rocked the building, and fire alarms began to blare all around him. Wesley swore to himself once again and bolted the rest of the way to the door. Once outside he looked up to see the lower floors of the Trust headquarters were on fire. Magical blue flames twisting among a roaring orange blaze, creating an effect the likes of nothing Wesley had seen before. And already one could hear the wail of sirens drawing closer, heeding the call of the flames._

_For the second time that night, it began to rain._

"Later on," Wesley sighed, "we learned we'd been used by the Trust. The London branch was going over their superior's heads, so they had Daniel -"

" - eliminate them," Daniel whispered. His hands were balled into fists and shaking slightly. "All of them. I - killed - every single one of them. And then," he laughed, "and then I tried something even more stupid. Never using magic again. Sounds easy, right? But you can't. 'Cause you don't use the magic. It. Uses. You."

As if to prove a point, something in the air around Daniel snapped, and the bulb from the lamp on Wesley's desk exploded with a pop and a fizz of sparks. No-one jumped. They were all too busy being wary of Daniel. Cassandra shrunk down slightly behind her book.

After a few tense moments, Dr. Jackson sagged, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands.

"No," he mumbled, "the stupidest thing I did was try and run away. Tried to forget about good and evil and magic. But even if you escape the battlefield, all you'll ever see around you is war. Once you know the fight is there, that it's happening, there's nothing you can do to escape. Our battle with the Goa'uld, losing Sha're, it's nothing different. All these years I've tried to convince myself that it was, but it's nothing different."

There was an unnecessarily long silence. Cassandra squirmed in her seat. Wesley sat completely still, pondering what his friend had just said. Finally, Janet spoke.

"Maybe that's a good thing," she said. Daniel looked up at her over his hands, a mixture of anger and confusion in his eyes.

"Actually," Dr. Fraiser continued, "you know it's a good thing. That's why you stayed on at the SGC after Sha're died. You knew she'd never want you to forget, to run. To run again. You don't fight or whatever because you have to, but because you can. You fight for Annie, fight for Sha're, fight for everyone who's ever been oppressed by the Goa'uld!"

"Or bitten by a vampire!" chimed in Cassie.

"Thank you! And I'm not going to see you mope just because fifteen years ago you didn't have the gall to continue fighting for someone you love!" Janet was practically shouting now. Usually such a display of emotion would stir someone to see the error of their ways and hurl themselves with confidence back into the fray. Daniel on the other hand, stood up, shoved his hands in his pockets, and announced they should leave. The eyes of the two Fraisers and an ex-Watcher followed him out the door.

"That bad, huh?" asked Cassandra.

"That bad."


	6. And Keep On Fighting

**And Keep On Fighting **

The flight back to Colorado was spent almost entirely in silence. Daniel disappeared shortly after they arrived and wasn't heard from until Monday morning. For a while he became hard to find around the SGC, and when Daniel was seen talking with his friends, Janet could tell he was strained. He was finding it hard to act normal whilst the events of fifteen years ago played again and again behind his eyes. Nobody else noticed. By silent agreement nobody else had been told of the events in L.A.

Life, for everyone else, continued as normal. And eventually, over time, it did for Daniel as well. As his memories returned he learned to cope, as he always had, with the past. The months slipped by, and for a while it seemed everything was going to be all right.

Then Janet died. Shot, in the chest, by a staff weapon, only because she was doing what she could to fight the good fight and help the helpless. When Cassandra found out, she was furious. If it hadn't been for Teal'c's arm to hold her back, Cassie swore she would have torn her way to the Stargate and killed every Jaffa on the other side. Instead, her anger turned itself to tears, and she collapsed against Teal'c, sobbing.

"Oh my god," she cried, "I understand now. Daniel I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." Teal'c looked up to Major Carter for an explanation to Cassandra's words, but all he got was a shrug. After her tears had subsided for the moment, Cassie wiped her eyes and asked Sam what the Major considered some peculiar questions.

"How did the battle end?" she asked. "Nothing ... unusual happened, did it?"

Sam shook her head, slightly baffled.

"And Daniel. How's Daniel?"

"Cold," Sam replied after a moments thought, "why?"

"I just," Cassandra sniffed and wiped her eyes, "I just think out of all of us he may take this the hardest." She stood up without giving Major Carter a chance for more questions.

"I think I need a nap," she mumbled as she left. Again there came a questioning glance from Teal'c. Again, all he received was a shrug.

Cassandra didn't get a proper chance to speak with Daniel until her mother's funeral. She caught him after the service, staring glazedly at the patch of freshly dug earth that was Janet Fraiser's grave.

"How're you doing?" she asked quietly. Daniel grimaced.

"Not so good. I received word yesterday that Wesley was killed a few days ago."

"Oh no," breathed Cassie, "what're you going to do?" The words had slipped out of her mouth without her realizing it.

"I think," replied Daniel solemnly, "that question is better referred to you. It's something that's needed to be asked for some time now."

"There's a group of Slayers in Italy that have asked me to join them," Cassie told him.

"I know a lot of people who will tell you Slayers are nothing but trouble."

"I still think I'll go."

"Why?"

Cassandra paused for a moment, struggling with her reply.

"I've been thinking about what you said. That once you know the fight is there, there's no escaping it. I don't feel there's anything I can do here. Maybe, in Italy, I can do more good."

Daniel wasn't easy with this answer. On the one hand he wanted to beg Cassandra not to get more involved, to keep herself safe. On the other hand he knew this would infuriate her, make her feel cooped up and insignificant. Daniel sighed resentfully.

"What're you going to tell Sam?" he asked.

"That I won a scholarship."

There were a few moments of awkward silence, the two of them both staring at the fresh grave thoughtfully. Cassandra was the first to turn away. After a few paces toward the road she stopped and turned back.

"I'll see you before I go," she said before leaving the cemetery. Daniel stayed a while longer. Finally, he spoke.

"What am I going to do?" he said to himself, "same as always. I'll fight."

FINIS

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AN: Huge thanks to everyone who read this. Keep an eye out for the sequel which may be titled _What Should Not Be Forgot_.


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